DPRK calls UN sanctions unfair, while ROK presses for food aid

World
Europe

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has called the United Nations an unfair organization, saying that the sanctions imposed on Pyongyang are a violation of its sovereignty that it will try to "hit back and crush," Yonhap reported on Friday citing a statement by DPRK's foreign ministry.

"What cannot be tolerated is that resolutions have been adopted through the international stage, including the U.N. by legitimizing force and arbitrariness of certain countries," the statement said.

"And such injustice has been committed in broad daylight as sanctions being imposed on victims by attackers just because they are defiant," it added.

Pyongyang called the U.N. sanctions a "severe violation of our sovereignty," which it will not tolerate.

It also complained that there is a great deal of "inequality" among U.N. member countries, adding that the organization is dictated by the "law of the jungle."

DPRK leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump look on during the extended bilateral meeting in the Metropole hotel during the second summit in Hanoi, Vietnam, February 28, 2019. /Reuters Photo

The DPRK is under multiple U.N. Security Council sanctions for its nuclear and missile programs.

It has been pushing for sanctions reliefs in talks with the United States. The talks broke down at the Hanoi summit in February between its leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump after the two sides failed to agree on steps of denuclearization.

Separately, Seoul has been pushing for the resume of dialogue between Pyongyang and Washington.

Earlier this month, President of the Republic of Korea (ROK) Moon Jae-in said the South will provide direct food aid to the North, and President Trump supports the proposal.

On Friday, Chung Eui-yong, head of the presidential National Security Office said the South is pressing to send food directly to the North, Yonhap reported.

Citing two sources familiar with the matter, Reuters said Seoul will also scale up donations to international agencies including the U.N. World Food Program (WFP).

ROK Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and Executive Director of the World Food Program, David Beasley, shake hands for the media before their meeting at Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, May 13, 2019. /Reuters Photo

If it comes off, it would mark ROK's first bilateral food aid since 2010, when it delivered 5,000 tons of rice, the ROK's Unification Ministry data shows.

Chung said the government has already decided on the food assistance and it's making "various preparations" for specific measures, and sees this aid plan only from the humanitarian aspect, irrespective of the security issue.

The government will soon make public detailed plans for the food assistance, he added.

(Cover: DPRK military conducts a 'strike drill' for multiple launchers and tactical guided weapons into the East Sea during a military drill in the DPRK, May 4, 2019, photo supplied by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). /Reuters Photo)

(With input from Reuters)